Born Into Villain's Family: I Have a 200\% Rebate System-Chapter 523: Beaten

For a split second, Lily’s eyes sparkled with something sharp, excitement, perhaps, but she quickly lowered her gaze.

"There are ways," she said carefully. "If someone really wanted to, they could manage it."

"Oh?" Aurora replied mildly.

"I might have access to certain information," Lily continued. "Enough to help someone convincingly take that identity."

Aurora’s gaze sharpened. "Why are you proposing this to me? I never asked for such information."

She tilted her head slightly. "If I didn’t know better, I’d think you wanted me to impersonate the rich man’s daughter."

Lily felt a flicker of panic in her chest but forced herself to remain composed.

"I just want you to live a better life," she said softly. "That’s all."

Aurora’s lips curved faintly. ’How generous.’

"I do want a good life," Aurora replied calmly. "But I won’t achieve it by impersonating someone else."

She stood up. "If that’s all, I’ll leave."

Lily instinctively reached out, but Aurora’s sharp gaze stopped her mid-motion.

"This is strange," Aurora added coolly. "Why bring this up so suddenly? If I didn’t know better, I’d think you wanted me to harm the real daughter by taking her place."

With that, she turned and walked away.

Lily remained seated, her hand slowly curling into a fist. Helplessness flashed across her face.

...................

Outside, Aurora didn’t head back immediately.

Instead, she calmly accessed the café’s CCTV footage on her phone.

She replayed the segment of their conversation, carefully studying Lily’s expressions frame by frame.

After a while, she locked her screen.

’If you want to play games,’ she thought coldly, ’at least be smarter about it.’ 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

She had no intention of standing there like a fool while someone tried to use her as a pawn.

.................

Meanwhile, Olivia was suffering from a completely different headache.

For the past few days, Louis had been practically glued to her. At first, it was occasional messages.

Then it became daily visits. Now he even hinted at wanting to accompany her to various places, including Lexy’s studio.

It irritated her deeply.

She couldn’t help but wonder,

’Did Louis somehow have a connection with Lexy? Is that why I was accepted?’

That question lingered in her mind like an itch she couldn’t scratch.

After meeting Louis’s mother, her initial fondness for him had dropped by half.

The woman treated Louis like he was still a child, fussing over him constantly.

’Who wants to be entangled with a man whose mother still sees him as a baby?’ Olivia thought irritably.

She began ignoring Louis.

Louis, on the other hand, sensed the change. He regretted letting his mother meet Olivia.

’I should have stopped that meeting,; he thought helplessly.

Yet he refused to give up. Shamelessly, he continued showing up, hoping persistence would soften her heart.

Olivia only shook her head each time.

She had enough complications already.

Lexy seeing her own bos struggling almost felt pity for him.

In fact, Lexy herself had once been a struggling artist.

During her younger years, she lived in a cramped apartment that always smelled faintly of paint thinner and damp canvases, surviving from one small commission to the next. Recognition felt impossibly far away.

Then, one day, she met a boy.

He couldn’t have been more than twelve years old.

He walked straight up to her, his gaze calm and strangely assured, and said in a cool voice,

"If you dedicate the next decade to me, I will make sure you shine on the international stage."

At that time, Lexy was already twenty-eight, exhausted, and desperate. The art world had nearly swallowed her whole.

’What do I even have left to lose?’ she had thought.

So she agreed.

Ten years later, that young man kept his promise.

Lexy rose to international fame. Critics praised her talent, galleries competed for her work, and her name became synonymous with brilliance. She had truly made it.

That young man was Louis.

Out of gratitude, Louis later approached her again.

"Take Olivia as your disciple," he urged. "Help her reach the very top."

Miss Dawn, another influential figure in the industry, also recommended Olivia strongly.

At first, Lexy was only mildly interested. She had already seen too many talented people to be easily impressed.

Still, after repeated requests from powerful figures, she agreed to review Olivia’s portfolio.

Her first reaction was underwhelming. ’I’ve seen better,’ she thought.

But then she found Olivia’s childhood sketches.

Something changed.

The drawings were simple, almost too simple, but the foundation beneath them was incredibly strong.

The brush control, the structure, the instinctive balance... it was raw, but unmistakable.

’If trained properly,’ Lexy realized, ’this girl could stand on the international stage one day.’

That was when she accepted Olivia as her disciple.

As she began teaching, Lexy was further astonished.

Olivia’s intelligence was even superior to Lexy’s.

She absorbed concepts quickly, asking precise questions and applying corrections instantly.

What shocked Lexy most was that the works Olivia showed publicly, on Instagram or in resumes, were nowhere near her true ability.

The more she observed, the more she felt she had uncovered a hidden gem.

She even sighed in relief.

’If it weren’t for Louis and Miss Dawn, I would have missed this entirely.’

Now, watching Louis shamelessly trail after Olivia like a persistent puppy, Lexy often had to suppress her laughter.

She even wanted to step in and defend Olivia; after all, Olivia was now her disciple.

But she held herself back.

If she openly opposed Louis, he might cut ties with her company. Being kicked out wasn’t the issue.

The issue was losing the very person who had once saved her career.

So she swallowed her words.

.................

After finishing her painting session one afternoon, Olivia packed her materials and left the mansion.

Louis followed immediately, talking nonstop.

"I waited for your reply all day," he complained. "You didn’t even call me. Don’t you miss me? Because I definitely miss you."

Olivia pressed her fingers against her temple, trying to block him out.

Seeing her reaction, Louis grinned mischievously. "Even if you ignore me, you won’t escape me."

He even gave her an exaggerated villain-like smile.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Get lost."

They continued walking, Louis still talking, Olivia’s headache growing worse by the minute.

’What exactly am I supposed to do with this man?’ she wondered.

Just then, Miller appeared.

Olivia nearly jumped out of her skin. Her heart thudded violently.

’Another one? Seriously?’ she thought miserably. ’At this point, is my life even normal anymore?’

Miller looked at Louis with open hostility, his gaze sharp enough to cut glass.

Louis frowned. "And who are you supposed to be?"

Miller arched an eyebrow.

"That’s my question. Who are you, and why are you following Olivia around?"

The two men immediately began arguing.

Olivia didn’t wait.

Taking advantage of the chaos, she slipped away quietly. She had already decided she wasn’t dealing with this nonsense anymore.

But just as she turned the corner, she saw someone else.

Someone she absolutely did not want to meet.

’No. Not him too,’ she thought, already trying to retreat.

"Olivia."

The voice stopped her.

She clenched her fists.

"I should’ve checked my horoscope before leaving today," she muttered under her breath. "Now I definitely can’t escape."

Matteo stepped in front of her, studying her deeply. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

Before Olivia could answer, he continued with a self-assured expression.

"I understand. Maybe you regret leaving me. Maybe you’re trying to get my attention again. But you should know, I’ve already started liking someone else. You can stop now. Don’t come back into my life."

Olivia stared at him for a moment, then sighed heavily. "Where are we? At a movie theatre?"

Matteo blinked. "What?"

"Camera," Olivia said flatly. "Who are you performing for? There must be one hidden somewhere."

His face darkened instantly, anger flushing his features. "You really know how to make me angry."

Olivia gave a small, humorless chuckle.

"It doesn’t take talent. I just tell the truth, and you get angry all on your own."

Matteo, now furious, pointed at her. "Watch how you behave."

Olivia didn’t even flinch.

Mateo shouted,

"You are bankrupt by now, I know that! After all, you have offended Victor Hawthorne; you are definitely finished. Yet you dare to show me attitude?"

Olivia looked at him with a bored expression, her eyes half-lidded as if he were nothing more than an inconvenience.

"You should just leave," she said flatly. "I don’t like dogs barking around me."

A few passersby turned at her words, their whispers brushing against the marble walls.

She turned to leave, but before she could take more than a step, Mateo grabbed her wrist.

His fingers were warm and tight around her skin.

"You don’t have permission to leave until we talk everything out," he said.

The audacity of it made her vision flare red. Without hesitation, she swung her fist and struck him squarely across the face.

The sound of knuckles against bone cracked through the air. Mateo, though trained, was nothing compared to Olivia’s force.